Bicycle Lab Part two


State Standards:

GSE PS3 (7-8)-8 - Motion

Students demonstrate an understanding of motion by…
  • 8a measuring distance and time for a moving object and using those values as well as the relationship s=d/t to calculate speed and graphically represent the data.
  • 8b solving for any unknown in the expression s=d/t given values for the other two variables.
  • 8c differentiating among speed, velocity and acceleration.

National Standards:

Context of Lesson:

This is the second lesson in a three day series based on velocity. This lesson builds off of the previous lesson. In the previous lesson, students worked together to gather data based on three trips of a bicycle in a pre-measured distance. In this lesson, students will take the data that they have previously gathered and apply it. They will learn how to graph velocity on position vs time graphs. This will allow them to plot their own data on graphs. This lesson is essential for the students to be successful in the following lesson in which students are asked to analyze their data and make inferences based on the graphs that they created.

Opportunities to Learn:

Depth of Knowledge

Webb Level one:
  • Represent in words or diagrams a scientific concept or relationship.
Webb Level two:
  • Describe and explain examples and non-examples of science concepts
  • Interpret information from a simple graph.

Prerequisite Knowledge

  • Velocity
  • Displacement
  • Plotting on a graph

Plans for Differentiating Instruction

  • Students will learn position vs time graphs first by teacher teacher notes.
  • Students will then practice looking at and plotting graphs as a whole class.
  • Students will work as group to create a "story" and plot it on a position vs time graph.
  • Students will have the opportunity to practice by solving problems at home.

Accommodations and modifications

  • Students that require modifications will be given a alternative worksheet that does not require higher level analytical skills.
  • Students will be in groups that foster distributed cognition for students that may need extra help.

Environmental factors

  • Whole class instruction for opening.
  • Lesson outline on board before students enter classroom.
  • Desks aligned into rows.
  • Students form groups of 3 or 4 students for "story".
  • Whole class instruction for closing.

Materials


Objectives:

Students will build explanations to:
  • Analyze motion on position vs time graphs
  • Identify patterns in events or behavior
  • Support ideas with details and examples
Students will create a "story" to:
  • Plot motion on a position vs time graph
  • Apply a concept in other contexts

Instruction:

Opening:

  • Review activity from previous lesson.
  • How could we illustrate the motion we observed in our Bicycle lab?
    • We could draw a diagram, but would that show the changes in position that we saw?
    • Allow students to brainstorm
    • Looking for students to come up with graphs.
  • Today we are going to learn how to plot motion on a graph.
  • By looking at motion on a graph, we can see the changes in motion over time.
  • Graphing motion provides an illustration of an entire
  • After we learn how to plot motion on a graph, students will break up into groups to create a "story" involving motion, and plot the motion in the story on a position vs time graph.

Engagement:

Activity one:
  • Teacher instructs students about position vs time graphs.
    • Position (distance) goes on the Y axis
    • Time goes on the X axis
    • The line of the graph determines speed.
    • The "steeper" the line, the faster the motion
    • Positive vs negative slope
    • What it means if the line is horizontal (no motion)
  • Teacher models analyzing Graphs
  • Students practice analyzing graphs in whole class discussion.
Activity two:
  • Teacher breaks students off into groups of three or four students.
  • Students are given the instructions of the activity.
    • As a group, students are to develop a story
    • This story is to be creative and involve some type of motion.
    • Describe the motion in terms of position and time
    • Be sure to include a position vs time graph of the motion described in the story.
  • Students are given Poster board and markers.
  • Students will present their story to the class. One student will read the story, while another points to the points on the graph that correspond to the parts of the story.

Closure:

  • Teacher wraps up class with five minutes remaining.
  • "What did we learn today about motion?"
  • "Where do you think this type of graph is used in the real world?"
  • Assign Homework- Go over instructions.

Assessment:

  • Formative assessment of students' participation in class discussion.
  • Formal assessment of students' group stories. (graded)
  • Homework assignment (graded)
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